The Jeanz Girls, who previously operated under NewJeans, are facing increased pressure from Korean organizations in an attempt to terminate their contract with the HYBE label.
The Korea Startup Forum (Kospo), a startup coalition founded in September 2016 by around 50 startups, chastised Jeanz for “a decline in social confidence regarding the performance of investment contracts that seriously dampens investment sentiment and has a fatal impact on the entire ecosystem,” in a report by Allkpop.
Following the resolution of the contract in limbo, the associations argue that there has been “a reduced willingness of investors to invest and this could damage the entire Korean startup ecosystem, well beyond individual contracts. If foreign investors lose their confidence in the Korean market, global investment attraction would decrease, limiting growth opportunities for domestic startups and weakening the competitiveness of the Korean startup ecosystem.”
The association urged the girls to reconcile with their company and express a “deep concern that the healthy development of the startup sector and investment environment may be seriously compromised.”
In recent weeks, Jeans has faced pressure from Korean associations, including the Korea Music Content Association (KMCA), the Korea Entertainment Producers Association (KEPA), and advertisers over their dispute against HYBE.
KMCA accused former ADOR CEO and NewJeans ally Min Hee Jin of poaching artists, threatening to remove NewJeans from music charts, including the Circle Chart.
“These actions undermine the integrity of the Korean music industry, and we are committed to taking all necessary measures to eradicate them,” they said in a statement.
Likewise, KEPA said the group’s move against their label “could set a very dangerous precedent.”
“NewJeans’ desire to take risks on less than half of the contract, related allegations of tampering, and the breakdown of the agency-artist relationship are significantly reducing the credibility and investment of the industry, as a whole,” they said.
The group was also excluded from advertising contracts with the financial company Shinhan Financial Group, which decided to terminate the group’s model contract and stop any possibility of renewal.
Jeanz, who has ceased use of the HYBE-owned “NewJeans” label, is currently promoting under his new name and individual names.
The group announced that they would unilaterally end their exclusive contracts with agency HYBE on November 28 along with plans to continue working with former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin, who resigned from her position as the company’s in-house director , a position that had only been reinstated three days earlier, on November 20.
ADOR, the subsidiary of HYBE, filed a lawsuit to confirm the validity of the exclusive contract, claiming that the agreement will remain in effect until July 2029.
